Intel confirms Skylake upgrade for Core M later this year

Intel Corporation is set to release its Core M processors later this year. The new processor is based on Skylake chip design and is said to help personal computer (PC) manufacturers build thinner products with improved battery performance.

As the first Broadwell chip, Core M had the twin tasks of improving Intel’s performance in the lowest power segments while simultaneously allowing it to push into smaller form factors and tighter thermal envelopes.

Intel is apparently going to keep pushing the ultramobile form factor front and center — at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference this week, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich told analysts that the company would launch Core M on Skylake later this year.

Since the Skylake micro-architecture, like Broadwell, is produced using the 14nm process, you probably wouldn’t expect drastic device dimension reductions. The thinnest tablet with a Core M processor today is 7.2 millimeters thick, and the thinner designs should help Intel challenge Apple’s iPad Air 2, which is 6.1 millimeters thick. Thinner tablets are generally lighter and easier to carry around. The Skylake chips should also improve graphics and general application performance compared to the current processors.

As far as software compatibility goes, Santa Clara plans to support Windows, of course, as well as Chrome OS and Android. But for the most part, the chip maker expects Skylake Core M’s services to be needed inside Windows 10 systems.

Intel Corporation is expected announce the complete details and specifications of the Core M processor at the Computex Trade Show in June. It is the same event where Intel first announced the release of its Core M Broadwell-based chip last year.

Although previous predictions indicated that the PC market is dying and will soon be fading based on a few factors, the general consensus is that the market might revive. Recent signs in the industry confirm that the sales are gradually recovering and Intel is deemed to make the most of it. Intel is set to tempt customers to upgrade their systems. The company will release the Skylake-based Core M chip into the market soon and end the shipments for Broadwell.